Sarfaraz Khan has been in the recent spotlight for a couple of reasons – for piling a colossal amount of runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and not getting picked in India’s Test squad. Despite putting on a mountain of runs – he has tallied a gobsmacking 2441 runs combined across the last three Ranji seasons – Sarfaraz has not broken into India’s red-ball squad, and recently when his name went missing from India’s four-Test series against Australia, fans and former cricketers alike took exception to it.
Sarfaraz himself opened up on his India snub on more than one occasion. The 25-year-old revealed that he was upset after not earning an India call-up yet and even disclosed the conversation he had with BCCI chief selector Chetan Sharma and his promise of giving Sarfaraz a call-up for the Bangladesh tour last year. For someone who has scored 928 in 2019-20 season, 982 more in the next to go with another 556 in six games, not earning an India cap can be heart-breaking but former Mumbai captain Milind Rege reckons Sarfaraz’s job should be to score runs and perform, rather than expressing his disappointment on public platforms.
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“Keep performing but making ridiculous comments won’t help matters. Sarfaraz should refrain from making comments against his [India] selection. His job is to score runs. He has to concentrate on his batting,” Rege, Mumbai’s chief selector told Mid-Day.
Rege understands that while it has been tough luck for Sarfaraz, one needs to realise the fierce competition that is going on within players in the Indian team. With as many as 3-4 players gunning for one spot, Rege feels there is just no spot available for Sarfaraz to fit in, yet. With Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, a wicketkeeper and an all-rounder in most probably Ravindra Jadeja, comprising India’s middle order, Sarfaraz will have to wait for his opportunity.
“Sarfaraz has been in tremendous form, there is no question about it. But there has to be a place in the [Indian Test team] batting line-up. His form is incomparable and unbelievable. Wherever there is an opportunity I think he will get his chance. But right now, where is the place?” he added.
Rege drew similarities between Sarfaraz and his Mumbai batting coach Amol Muzumdar. A prime batter of his era, Muzumdar struggled to make it to the Indian team despite setting the domestic circuit on fire with his string of marathon innings season after season. But with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly forming India’s middle-order pillar, Muzumdar could never earn his India cap. Even after all these years, Muzumdar is considered as the most deserving cricketer to have never played for India.
“When Amol is your Mumbai coach, why did he need his father [Naushad Khan] to coach him. I read a quote in a Marathi newspaper that he had called his father to coach him [in Delhi]. When a man like Amol, who scored more than 11,000 First-Class runs is a Mumbai coach, Sarfaraz should look at Amol’s plight and carry on with the game. Amol scored plenty of runs, but he was never selected because there was no place in the national side,” Rege pointed out.
